Every material event takes place in time. If there were no time, there would be no mortality. Christian Science teaches that time is a mortal measurement, a relative condition over which the spiritual idea has dominion.

Christ Jesus was master of time because he knew how to overcome mortality. His many wonderful works included the overcoming of time, for we are told in the Gospel of John that on one occasion when his disciples took him into their ship, "immediately the ship was at the land whither they went" (6:21).

The Master did not accept the beliefs of limitation expressed by time, but as an exponent or demonstrator of divine Science, he recognized existence to be the timeless expression of Spirit. In divine Science all truth is ever present, and therefore everything needful is always at hand. Herein lies a great and important truth, for since time is an illusion of material sense, then as the false sense of life in matter gives place to spiritual existence, limitation and mortality must cease to exist. All that can ever die is mortality, a mortal belief of mind in matter, a false impression of an existence which is measured by time.

A Christian Science healing does not take place in time but evidences eternal and harmonious being. Health exists as an eternal law of divine Mind, in which we live and move and have our being.

When one understands the truth that disease is unreal, this truth takes effect immediately. In the fifth chapter of John we read of an infirm man who lay beside the pool of Bethesda, waiting for the moving of the water. The pool had five porches, which might symbolize the five material senses in which the infirm man seemed to be confined.

The evidence of these senses testified to corporeality, inability, and perhaps an ignorant, impotent, and hopeless state of mind. But there was something to be said in this man's favor. He was endeavoring to reach the pool quickly, "for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water." After this troubling, whoever first entered the water was healed.

There was patience in the sufferer's thought, for he had been ill thirty-eight years. The senses said he could not move rapidly; perhaps his case was classified as incurable. The belief of incurability is often linked with the belief of time. Man is not subject to time; therefore he is never the victim of incurability.

Christ Jesus noticed this sufferer and discerned his need. Perhaps he also recognized his courage, tenacity, and patient endeavor.

"Wilt thou be made whole?" Jesus asked. In reply the infirm man cited the belief of time, for he said he had no man to put him into the pool, "but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me."

"Rise, take up thy bed, and walk," was Jesus' demand. The man obeyed and was freed immediately. Touched by the Christ, Truth, he discerned his God-given freedom, and thus the illusion of incurability disappeared.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 227): "Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right. The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being."

We are not accepting the "glorious liberty of the children of God" if we are subject to time.

Our word "chronic" is derived from the Greek word chronos meaning "time." A chronic ailment is an erroneous mental picture of disease gaining support in belief because time seems to have given it a greater degree of credibility.

When the claim of time is lifted from mortal mind, the chronic ailment should be no more difficult to heal than a sudden aggressive suggestion of disease. When the Christ, Truth, enters consciousness, then immediately the unity of God and man becomes a primal fact, and healing immediately follows.

Let us realize the importance of handling the time element in the healing work. We do not have to wait for Truth to work; Truth is always working. The man of God does not lie impotent in the five senses, waiting for something to happen, perhaps through the application of a remedy such as drugs, or by means of diet, exercise, or air. The man of God is about his Father's business. He moves in the timeless Mind of Christ, and in this Mind he has potency, strength, health, and success here, now, and forever.